Pakistan coalition threatens Musharraf's power

Monday

Mar 10, 2008 at 12:22 AMMar 10, 2008 at 12:53 AM

BY ZARAR KHANTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BHURBAN, Pakistan - Pakistan's election winners agreed to form a coalition government Sunday and promised that parliament would restore senior judges fired last year by President Pervez Musharraf in a bid to secure the U.S.-backed leader's continued rule.
In the capital, Islamabad, police fired tear gas at protesters at the residence of the Supreme Court chief suspended by Musharraf one year earlier, a move that triggered the political turbulence still dogging Pakistan's return to democracy.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in Musharraf's 1999 military coup, announced their pact after talks at a resort town in the foothills of the Himalayas.
"We are bound together in the spirit of democracy," Zardari said at a news conference.
The move has been widely expected since their parties won a Feb. 18 election.
The two parties, both moderate and secular, have vowed to fight Islamic extremism, raising Western hopes of stability and renewed commitment to fighting al-Qaida and Taliban militants. They have also pledged to tackle mounting economic problems including inflation and power outages.
However, they have devoted much of their energy to finding ways to cut back Musharraf's powers, which include the right to dismiss the government.
Zardari said his party had signed the agreement in honor of Bhutto, who was assassinated in a suicide attack on Dec. 27, and her desire to put back Pakistan back on "the road to democracy."
He also sought to reassure Western backers who had supported Musharraf for his help in pursuing al-Qaida and Taliban militants.
"We will not disappoint you," Zardari said, without elaborating on his counterterrorism strategy. U.S. officials worry that al-Qaida is regrouping in Pakistan, and Zardari said it was clear that Musharraf's eight-year rule "has not worked."
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party won 120 seats in the new 342-seat National Assembly, while Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N took 90. The former ruling party aligned with Musharraf got only 51.
The new government will be led by Bhutto's People's Party, which is expected to name its candidate for prime minister this week, Sharif said.
Zardari said the new parliament would pass a resolution within 30 days of its formation to reinstate dozens of judges fired by Musharraf last year - a key demand of Sharif.
In a written statement, the two agreed that the judiciary would be restored "as it was on Nov. 2." That was the day before Musharraf declared a state of emergency, suspending the constitution, deploying a large police presence to the streets and firing the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Sharif suggested that the chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, would return to the helm of the Supreme Court.
But Zardari appeared to contradict that, saying that the current judges, instated after the purge, would not be "disturbed."
"I think we'll have to take a ... stance on this whereby we have a collective wisdom and accommodate everybody," Zardari said.
Musharraf first suspended Chaudhry on March 9, 2007, eroding his popularity and triggering lawyers' protests that grew into a powerful pro-democracy movement.
The Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry in July and was poised to rule on the disputed legality of Musharraf's October re-election as president when he declared emergency rule on Nov. 3, drawing fierce criticism at home and abroad.
On Sunday, the anniversary of Chaudhry's first suspension, lawyers began a week of fresh protests and said they would keep up the pressure until the judges are back in their posts.
About 600 demonstrators marched on the residence in Islamabad where Chaudhry has been under house arrest for four months, chanting "Go, Musharraf, go" and "We want freedom."
Police in riot gear fired tear gas after some protesters tried to cut through barbed wire at concrete barricades that block the entrance to the house.
In the southern city of Karachi, several thousand people, including labor union members and journalists, gathered peacefully to demand that Musharraf step down.
"This is the verdict of the people of Pakistan," read one banner, referring to the outcome of the elections.
Musharraf has said he will convene parliament shortly and on Saturday appealed to the election winners to turn to the business of governance in a country facing growing economic problems as well as Islamic extremism.
"Put the politics on the back burner and run the government," Musharraf said.